Our Measure of Engagement

Our theoretical conceptualization of work engagement is primarily informed by Schaufeli & Bakker (2003) and Rosenberg (1960). Here, engagement is a mental state wherein employees: a) feel energized (Vigor), b) are enthusiastic about the content of their work and the things they do (Dedication), and c) are so immersed in their work activities that time seems compressed (Absorption). We further decompose each of these facets into three attitudinal components: d) feeling (Affect), e) thought (Cognition), and f) action (Behavior).

The current study’s focus is on exploring external variable associations with our measure, focusing on indicies of construct and criterion-related validity via retention of two alternative measures of engagement (the Saks scale and the UWES), two measures of theoretically orthogonal constructs (activity regarding household chores and tending to pets), and one measure of a theoretically relevant outcome (intentions to quit).

Participants

Of the 743 total Qualtrics panel respondents, roughly half were excluded based on conservative indices of carelessness across the larger survey. These screens included respondents with more than 50% missing responses, those who provided consistently non-differentiating responses across more than 12 consecutive items, and those who completed the survey in less than 300 seconds. These conservative screens resulted in a retained validation sample of 377. All analyses were derived from this n of 377.

Results

The current sample internal consistency estimates for our three substantive subscales were: 1) Absorption (\(\alpha\) = 0.75), 2) Dedication (\(\alpha\) = 0.89), and 3) Vigor (\(\alpha\) = 0.75), and estimates for our three attitudinal subscales were: 1) Affect/“Feel” (\(\alpha\) = 0.86), 2) Behavior/“Do” (\(\alpha\) = 0.77), and 3) Cognition/“Think” (\(\alpha\) = 0.77).